Variae civitates et villae – a collection of remnants of the archival fonds: Mielec

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Poland

Holding institution:: National Archives in Krakow

Holding institution (official language):: Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie

Postal address:: ul. Sienna 16, 30–960 Kraków

Phone number:: (+48 12) 422 40 94; (+48 12) 4212790; (+48 12) 421 68 81

Web address:: http://ank.gov.pl/

Email:: sekretariat@ank.gov.pl

Reference number:: PL 29/121.40

Title:: Variae civitates et villae – a collection of remnants of the archival fonds: Mielec

Title (official language):: Variae civitates et villae – zbiór szczątków zespołów. Mielec

Creator/accumulator:: Municipality of Mielec

Date(s):: 1502/1874

Language:: Latin; Polish; German

Extent:: 0.17 linear metres (3 units)

Type of material:: Textual material

Physical condition:: poor

Scope and content:: The files and records in this collection were created by the municipality of Mielec and the city’s Austrian administration (after 1772).

The files in the municipal registers are typical municipal court records comprising verdicts and numerous entries related to civil cases – chiefly, records concerning real estate, debts, and the like. Jewish-related elements are mostly of the same sort, with sale/purchase of real property appearing predominant (as in ref. no. 135, s. 23-24, 29-30, 39, 129).

The records of varied origin concern the city of Mielec in the nineteenth century. There are all sorts of documents, such as specifications of taxpayers (in a tabular form), including Jewish; applications to the authorities; appeals to superior authorities (such as a 1842 complaint against the domanial authority which, according to the appellants, had granted the entire liquor manufacture and selling privilege (so-called propinacja) to the Jews (ref. no. 136, p. 357–368), demarcations, receipts acknowledging repayment of debt, as well as collective disputes. The documents contain signatures in Hebrew. The numerous Jewish items in this collection reflect the considerable population and activity of the local Jewry.

Archival history:: The collection today is a small portion remaining from the municipal archive. In 1887, the authorities of Galicia passed a resolution encouraging protection of public books/registers in the archives of Lwów and Krakow (West Galicia). It was only in 1903 that Mielec submitted an inventory of its collection, which extended to original royal privileges/charters and an emperor’s privilege, and files of other acts or deeds, mainly from the Austrian time. The city office stated they had not more old documents in place. However, two municipal books from the Old-Polish period and a portfolio formed, at the archive, of documents relating to Mielec were apparently found and transferred after 1918.

Administrative/biographical history:: Mielec was a private town, situated approx. 56 km south-west of Sandomierz, in the Voivodeship of Sandomierz, Kingdom of Poland (‘the Crown’). Whilst the king granted his consent for the establishment of a city in 1457, Mielec was eventually set up around 1470. Between 1772 and 1918 the city was under Austrian rule, as part of the Austrian-Polish Galicia region.

Jews first settled in Mielec in 1573. The wars of 1648–1717 diminished their population; yet, a synagogue and a cheder were erected in 1720–1 and Jewish locals joined the election of municipality members since 1741. There were 585 Jewish dwellers in 1765, this marking quite a large community, which expanded by 1799 up to 1,008 residents, i.e. 34% of the Jewish population locally. In 1900, 2,817 Jews were recorded as living in Mielec (thus accounting for 60% of the city’s population).

Until the late 18th century, the municipal authorities consisted of a council and a burgomaster (burmistrz), and a bench (compsed of the vogt [wójt] and his deputy [podwójci], plus five assessors). Cases of major importance were considered by both offices jointly, with participation of guild masters. In the Austrian time, the local municipal government turned into a domanial-and-State administration system. The owners of the city – the families Mielecki (till 1771), Ossoliński and Morsztyn, Ignacy Suchorzewski, Ludwik Starzeński (from 1847 on), the Jewish family of Gross (1857), and the Oborski family – exerted a strong influence on the city, including the supervision of the court and its verdicts, disposing of real estate, and more.

Access points: locations:: Mielec

Subject terms:: Financial matters--Debt; Legal records; Real estate; Trade and commerce; Trade and commerce--Alcohol trade

System of arrangement:: The fond is arranged according to subject and chronology:

ref. no. 134 [Borough register (księga wójtowska) of Mielec, 1572–1619];

ref. no. 135 [Borough register (księga wójtowska) of Mielec, 1715–86];

ref. no. 136 [Collection of records related to Mielec, 1682–1874].

Access, restrictions:: If a copy (microfilm, scan, photocopy) of a document exists, this is what will be made available. Access to the originals requires the consent of the Director.

Finding aids:: Inventory available online.

An inventory in Polish for fond 121 is available in the reading room at the archive.

Yerusha Network member:: Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute

Author of the description:: Janusz S. Dąbrowski; Kraków; 2015

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